Honestly, HP is the only one making Windows 10 Mobile devices at the moment – the only other company is Microsoft itself.

So, what does an HP+Microsoft partnership entail? According to the reports, HP will be the one manufacturing, marketing, and selling the device. Meanwhile, Microsoft will help with the engineering – and is paying for a significant part of the development budget.

If true, this deal is extremely one-sided, and highly beneficial for HP – but it is a compromise Microsoft must make, considering the state of its mobile business.

According to the new rumors, a new Windows 10 Mobile, made by – this is the important bit – Microsoft and is expected to be revealed during MWC next year.

But there’s more

This goes a bit deeper: the Indian daily newspaper Hindustan Times has an industry source claiming pretty much the same thing – except that the device that is (apparently) going to be revealed during MWC will be made in partnership with an OEM.

So, then, if a Windows 10 Mobile device is to be revealed at MWC – could it be the HP one, rather than the Surface Phone?

If the industry source from Hindustan Times is correct – Microsoft is indeed working with HP on a Windows 10 Mobile, and it will be revealed during MWC next year.

The Possibilities

Now, we have extrapolated two possibilities from the rumors:

Microsoft is working on a device of their own – likely the Surface Phone – and it will be revealed at MWC next year. Additionally, there is a partnership with HP where Microsoft is doing most of the engineering heavy-lifting, but nobody knows when this device would show up.

OR

Microsoft is working on a device with HP, and it will be revealed at MWC next year. Additionally, Microsoft is developing a Surface Phone that might do justice to Nadella’s ‘ultimate mobile device’ comments, but we don’t know anything about it.

Which one of the two possibilities seems more plausible? You can decide for yourself, perhaps in the comments.

One thing is for certain – Microsoft’s mobile ambitions aren’t done yet. The rumors might be rumors, but there’s a reason they exist; that’s because the Windows 10 Mobile ecosystem has an incredible amount of protentional to bring something good – Microsoft just isn’t realizing it.